Recent Proceedings of Societies. 



Academy of natural sciences, Philadelphia. 



Jan. 19. — Dr. Leidy directed attention to a col- 

 lection of fossil bones recently received from near 

 Archer, Florida, containing numerous bones and well- 

 preserved teeth of a rhinoceros, among which are 

 fourteen well-preserved ankle-bones. Other of the 

 remains exhibited belong to a species of mastodon, 

 probably heretofore undescribed, the teeth resembling 

 most nearly those of M. augustidens of Europe. The 

 name ' Mastodon floridanus,' was proposed for the 

 form. Among the fossils are several isolated teeth 

 and bones, apparently indicating three species of 

 llama. One was larger than the existing camel, one 

 smaller, and one of intermediate size. The names 

 ' Auchenia major,' 'A. minor,' ' A. minima,' were 

 given to the species. An ankle-bone of a megatherium, 

 or fossil sloth, was also found among the specimens. 

 Professor Heilprin called attention to collec- 

 tions of fossil shells received from the geological 

 surveys of Kentucky and Texas, and others from 

 Florida, collected by Professor Wetherby. The 

 specimens from Kentucky are internal casts of shells 

 from the lower tertiary formation, and are the first 

 fossils collected from that geological horizon in the 

 locality indicated. Among them were specimens of 

 Turritella Mortoni, a species characteristic of the 

 eocene of Maryland. The Texas fossils indicate the 

 existence of the Claiborne beds in San Augustin county, 

 Tex. , while the collection from Florida is interesting 

 as containing specimens of nummulites and other 

 foraminifera, from a locality six miles south-west of 

 Gainsville, and therefore indicating a much more 

 northern distribution. of these forms than had before 



been determined. The next course of lectures 



will begin on Monday, the 25th inst., at 4.30 p.m., 

 when Dr. D. G. Brinton will deliver a discourse on 

 paleolithic man, the course to be continued weekly, 

 on the same day, and at the same hour. The next 

 course, on geology and paleontology, by Professor 

 Heilprin, consisting of fifteen lectures, will begin on 

 Tuesday, March 30, at 4.45 p.m., and will continue on 

 Thursdays and Tuesdays of each week. The field 

 excursions will take place on Saturdays, beginning 

 in April. Professor Sharpe will deliver a course of 

 ten lectures, hsginning April 5, at 8 p.m., on the 

 special senses, a comparative study of the sense- 

 organs in different animals. A paper on ' New 



species of Partula from the New Hebrides and Solo- 

 mon Islands,' by William D. Hartman, M.D., was 

 presented for publication. 



Calendar of Societies. 



Society of arts, Boston. 



Jan. 28. — Gaetano Lanza, Transmission of power 

 by belting. 



Connecticut academy of arts and sciences, Neiv Haven. 



Jan. 20. — A. E. Verrill, The origin of life on the 

 North American continent. 



Academy of sciences, New York. 

 Jan. 25. — John S. Newberry, The cretaceous flora 

 of North America. 



Colorado scientific society, Denver. 

 Jan. 4. — The following officers were elected for 

 the year 1886 : president, Richard Pearce ; vice- 

 president, P. H. van Diest ; secretary and treasurer, 

 Whitman Cross ; executive committee, P. H. van 

 Diest, E. W. Rollins, William H. Headden, Franklin 

 Guiterman, R. C. Hills, Richard Pearce, and Whit- 

 man Cross. 



Biological society, Washington. 

 Jan. 23. — The following officers were elected for 

 1886 : president, G. Brown Goode ; vice-presidents, 

 William H. Dall, C. V. Riley, L. F. Ward, Frank 

 Baker ; secretaries, Richard Rathbun and C. Hart 

 Merriam ; treasurer, F. W, True ; council, T. H. 

 Bean, R. Hitchcock, C. D. Walcott, O. T. Mason, 

 George Vasey. 



Publications received at Editor's Office, Jan. 18-23. 



Bolton, H. C. Chemical literature. (Amer. assoc. adv. sc.) 

 Salem, Salem pr., 1882. 29 p. 8°. 



Clarke, J. M. A brief outline of the geological succession in 

 Ontario county, N.Y. (Assem. doc. No. 161.) New York, State, 

 [1886.J L14I map. 8°. 



Dawson, W. Note on boulder drift and sea margins at Little 

 Metis, Lower St. Lawrence. Montreal, Can. rec. sc., [1886.] 3 p. 

 8°. 



Grant, C. E., and Dawson, W. Notes on pleistocene fossils 

 from Anticosti. Montreal, Can. rec. sc., 1886. L4] P- 8°. 



Helmholtz, H. von. Handbuch der physiologischen optik. 

 2d ed. Lief. i. Leipzig, Voss, 1886. 8o-p., illustr. 8°. (.New 

 York. Stechert, $1.10.) 



Illinois state board of health. Medical education and medical 

 colleges in the United States and Canada, 1765-1885. Springfield, 

 State, 1885. 137 p. 8°. 



The same. Decisions under medical-practice laws. (7th 



ann. rep.) Springfield, State, 1885. 44 p. 8°. 



Massachusetts drainage commission. Report on a general 

 svstem of drainage for the valleys of the Mystic, Blackstone, and 

 Charles rivers. Boston, Wright & Potter pr. co,, 1886. 84+243 

 p., 28 pi., illustr. 8°. 



Massachusetts. Twentieth annual report of the commission- 

 ers on inland fisheries for the year ending Dec. 31, 18S5. Boston. 

 State, 1886. 83 p., illustr. 8°. 



Mittenzweig, H. Die bakterien-atiologie der lnfections- 

 krankheiten. Berlin, Hirschwald, 1886. 8+135 p. 8°. (New 

 York, Stechert, $1 .05.) , 



Newberry, J. S. Notes on the geology and botany of the 

 country bordering the Northern Pacific railroad. (N. Y. acad. 

 sc.) Iview York, Gregory Bros., [18S6.] [29] p. 8°. 



Nolan, J. Darwin's theory of the genesis of the moon. Mel- 

 bourne, Robertson, 1885. 16 p. 12 . 



Roscoe, H. E. Spectrum analysis. 4th ed., revised by the 

 author and by Arthur Schuster, Ph.D., F.R.S. London, Mac- 

 millan, 1885. 16+452 p., 5 pi., illustr. 8°. 



Stifft, H. Die physiologische und therapeutische wirkung des 

 schwefelwasserstoffgases. Berlin, Hirschzvald, 1886. 6+168 p. 

 8°. (New York, Stechert, $1.10.) 



Todd, J. E. Boulder mosaics in Dakota. Philadelphia, 

 Amer. nat., 1886. 4 p., 1 pi. 8°. 



U. S. marine-hospital service. Annual repcrt of the super- 

 vising surgeon-general, r88s. Washington, Government, r88s. 

 179 p., 2 pi. 8°. 



Wiley, H. W. Experiments with diffusion and carbonatation 

 at Ottawa, Kan., campaign of 1885. (Dept. agric. div. chem., bull. 

 No. 6.) Washington, Government, 1885. 20 p. 8°. 



STRUCTURAL BOTANY ; or, Organography on the basis 

 of Morphology ; the principles of Taxonomy and Phytography 

 and a Glossary of Botanical terms. Gray (Harvard), 8vo., 454 pp. 

 $2.30. Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor £r= Co., Pubs., New York. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY: I. Outlines of the Histology 

 of Phaenogamous Plants; II. Vegetable Physiology. Goodale 

 (Harvard), 8vo., 560 pp. $2.30. Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor 

 Co., Pubs., New York. 



MANUAL OF THE BOTANY OF THE ROCKY 

 MOUNTAINS. Coulter (Wabash Coll.), 8vo.. 496 pp. $1.85. 

 Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor df Co., Pubs., New York. 



OUTLINES OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY: From earliest 

 times to r886. 32 maps. Fisher (Yale), 8vo., 690 pp. $3.00. 

 Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., Pubs., New York. 



